A song about losing

March 31, 2005

Dear Julie,

My late and acutely missed friend Randy wrote many songs. My favorite is "When I Get Over You," a song that captures the exquisite ache of longing for a love now gone.

I wish you could hear it. The melody is so gorgeous that Randy could have put almost any lyric to the song. Instead, he wrote:

"There's one thing I know for sure/I'll get over you

Someday when they find the cure/Then I'll be over you.

As sure as night turns into day/As sure as love can fade away

I'll get back on track someday

When I get over you/When I get over you"

Randy was the lead singer and lead guitarist for a band called the Melroys. His son Jordan's addition to the band last summer made Randy proud.

Many bands would have given up after their creative nucleus was gone, especially if it occurred as suddenly as Randy's death last month. Others at least would have taken a break to regroup.

The Melroys played on. Less than two weeks after Randy died they went on stage at the Pageant, St. Louis' premier nightclub, to open for a national Beatles tribute band.

The Melroys played on because Randy would have played on. He was not one to ignore a missed chord change or cancel a band job. Playing music was magical to him.

At the Pageant, Jordan sang some of his father's songs on a stage where some of the great names in rock 'n' roll stand. Lots of Randy's family members and friends were in the audience, pulling for Jordan and the Melroys and crying a bit.

Now Jordan sings "When I Get Over You." In his hands, the song has changed. It's a song about losing anyone you loved.

"They say that time will ease the pain/I do believe it's true

Winter's snow will hide the rain/When I get over you

When water changes into wine/And the sun has lost its shine

Out of sight; out of mind

When I get over you/When I get over you"

It's the hurt that's the same.

Love, Sam

Sam Blackwell is the managing editor of the Southeast Missourian.